Electric vehicles have many different consumer and commercial applications. These vehicles typically consist of an electric motor drive as well as a rechargeable battery system—the vehicle is operated using power stored within the batteries, and when the batteries require it they can be recharged. At a consumer level, society is seeing a proliferation of electric cars and other similar vehicles—many consumers are motivated to purchase or drive an electric vehicle as an environmental choice, to minimize vehicle emissions.
In commercial applications, there are environmental as well as other factors which in certain cases favor the use of electric vehicles over those using internal combustion engines and the like. For example in a closed working environment it is often desired to use electric vehicles to minimize pollution of the working environment with internal combustion emissions—ventilation problems and costs are minimized. It is often desired to minimize the safety risk factors within the working environment by, for example, minimizing the presence of combustible fuel and similar materials within the environment. One of the additional issues with the use of electric vehicles in industrial environments is the simplicity of repair. Making electric vehicles available which were modular in nature to optimize the on-site repair aspects of their deployment would enhance the attractiveness of this type of a platform for industrial users.
One of the other limitations to date in the adoption of electric vehicles in mining and other industrial applications is that each time a vehicle was required with custom configuration or options it often required significant actual custom manufacture. The variety of electric vehicles which were available for use in these types of applications was limited—a limited number of predetermined payloads or configurations would potentially be manufactured. Purchasers desiring equipment of customized size or functionality were often left with either significant costs to manufacture on a custom basis or without the ability to procure a more fulsome menu of vehicle configurations. A method of manufacture or vehicle configuration which would allow for the economical customization of electric vehicles for various users would it is believed to be desirable in the marketplace.
Another limitation in terms of the size and flexibility of available configurations of electric vehicles which has potentially limited their commercial attraction to date, again particularly in industrial applications, is the size limitation. There have been a number of reasons for this. Firstly, and particularly referencing mining applications again for example, many times in underground applications these vehicles are physically manipulated into position in their working environment by for example lowering them down a mine shaft. Points of ingress to the working environment are limited in size such that vehicles have typically been limited to a smaller size so that they can be lowered into the working environment through such a shaft or opening. Where larger vehicles even the size of a conventional pickup truck have been required in such environments it has been known in the past to even see companies lower the vehicle into position down a mineshaft by cutting it into parts and then welding it back together once it is in position. Providing a type of electric vehicle which was modular in assembly would increase the possible available largest sizes of these types of vehicles, which would enhance their commercial attractiveness to these types of customers. It is believed that providing a system of assembly of modular electric vehicles where the entire vehicle is broken down into a series of standardized modules, including frame and structure components through to drive and other systems would have commercial attraction and utility. Rendering the entire vehicle modular, rather than just attachable modular control components or system components on a unitary vehicle is a difference over the prior art.
Developing the idea of an assembled modular vehicle which had the highest amount of flexibility in terms of configuration would require that the component modules as well as the overall vehicle contained the necessary controls and systems to adapt to their deployment in varying configurations. This is again something which has not to date been seen in the prior art and which would render the concept of a modular electric vehicle more commercially attractive insofar as it would not only allow for the maximum number of flexible configurations of vehicles using a lower number of standardized component modules, but would also yield vehicles which were more robust from a field service perspective which again would enhance the commercial attraction of such a vehicle in industrial applications.